It's that fun time again, time to lease a new digital color press. The 3 machines I am looking at: KM 1100/1085, Xerox Versant 2100 and the Ricoh 7100 all seem to be good machines. Our primary condition is registration on 350 GSM front to back. Does anyone have experience with these machines?
KM 1100 - Xerox 2100 -Ricoh 7100
- Thread starter CahillJ
- Start date
cec-prepress
Active member
I can only speak to the KM 1100 and say that regardless of weight, you won't get 4 corner registration. You can work to get 2-3 corners registered almost dead-on front-to-back, but one corner will always be off. The 8000s (previous model) were the same way. The technicians and "specialists" have told us as much. We have 2 of them and have to constantly re-register trays/stocks on one of them because the numbers used the previous day are no longer good the next day. That's only one of them and it isn't necessarily every single day, but frequently enough that our pressmen want registration sensitive jobs to go to the other 1100. And all of that will be worse with heavier weights (we run 111# cover fairly regularly). In multiple ways anything above 100# Cover (270 GSM) will be problematic.
Now the disclaimer, as per any machine/service experience comment: We're in Denver - so altitude/humidity probably play a part, as does the the service team involved, so your results may vary. And if you ONLY run 350 GSM stocks you may be able tune your press to handle that better (at the cost of lighter stocks being more of a problem). We run the gamut every single day so we can't really fine tune the press to any specific stock.
Now the disclaimer, as per any machine/service experience comment: We're in Denver - so altitude/humidity probably play a part, as does the the service team involved, so your results may vary. And if you ONLY run 350 GSM stocks you may be able tune your press to handle that better (at the cost of lighter stocks being more of a problem). We run the gamut every single day so we can't really fine tune the press to any specific stock.
Same here as long as the sheets are cut the same. Biggest problem I have with the 2100 is trapezoid and no ones knows anyway to adjust it. No cam on the 2nd BTR like previous models.
Our KonicaMinolta C1085 can't print straight on 350gsm paper. If we adjust the front to be straight, the back will be slant and vice versa. I'm talking about a max. 1 mm difference in the corners. Otherwise it's a good machine, consistent color, good sheet-to-sheet registration. It can't run on the specified speed, though, because of frequent calibration loops. Might be renamed to C1080.
On the other hand, the Ricoh 7100 is a much more versatile beast. Long sheet capability & fifth color capability makes this printer stand out from the group.
On the other hand, the Ricoh 7100 is a much more versatile beast. Long sheet capability & fifth color capability makes this printer stand out from the group.
Based on what we have used I can give some feedback.
We had a Ricoh 901 and I demoed at 7110. It's a slow process to set up the registration but once you do it will hold more consistently and longer than the rest. When it does eventually move you have to go through the slow process again.
We haven't had a konica in a while but when we did registration was a pain to get right and never held. From what I've head it's gotten better but no a lot. Everything I read still shows they have some registration problems.
We currently have two xerox versant 2100's. It is consistent throughout a run. Even a very long run. I does not hold for a long time like the Ricoh's. Generally you will find it off every day. The difference is to get it back to where it should be you just click the auto align button and come back 2 minutes later and it's right on again. We generally run that procedure the first time we run a paper each day.
If you can pair the xerox automation with the ricoh consistency it would be the best. One other important difference we have found going from ricoh to xerox is consistency in quality. The xerox always prints an amazingly beautiful image. The ricohs had much more variation in quality. I think this is mainly due to the difference in how they handle wearable parts and the fact that xerox has automation features like a 2 minute thing that will automatically adjust for even density across the sheet.
We had a Ricoh 901 and I demoed at 7110. It's a slow process to set up the registration but once you do it will hold more consistently and longer than the rest. When it does eventually move you have to go through the slow process again.
We haven't had a konica in a while but when we did registration was a pain to get right and never held. From what I've head it's gotten better but no a lot. Everything I read still shows they have some registration problems.
We currently have two xerox versant 2100's. It is consistent throughout a run. Even a very long run. I does not hold for a long time like the Ricoh's. Generally you will find it off every day. The difference is to get it back to where it should be you just click the auto align button and come back 2 minutes later and it's right on again. We generally run that procedure the first time we run a paper each day.
If you can pair the xerox automation with the ricoh consistency it would be the best. One other important difference we have found going from ricoh to xerox is consistency in quality. The xerox always prints an amazingly beautiful image. The ricohs had much more variation in quality. I think this is mainly due to the difference in how they handle wearable parts and the fact that xerox has automation features like a 2 minute thing that will automatically adjust for even density across the sheet.
kdw75
Well-known member
Our techs were talking about a customer the other day who had a Color Press 1000 that was having trouble feeding their heavy linen stocks, which were a little wavy. It isn't too complicated, why don't these guys look at the 50+ year old feeder design on the Heidelbergs and copy it.
As for registration, our 2100 has been good enough, but I find that it needs tweaking for almost every job depending on coverage. Again, if they would just use a side jogger guide, I think it would be a big improvement. The best our 2100 has ever gotten since new was about a 32nd of an inch off sheet to sheet. Certainly not as good as offset, which was the promise in the 2100 announcement video.
As for registration, our 2100 has been good enough, but I find that it needs tweaking for almost every job depending on coverage. Again, if they would just use a side jogger guide, I think it would be a big improvement. The best our 2100 has ever gotten since new was about a 32nd of an inch off sheet to sheet. Certainly not as good as offset, which was the promise in the 2100 announcement video.
Baldbug
Well-known member
We have a C1085 and have had it just over a year. Registration is not to a problem, we use tray 1 for A4/A3 and tray 2 and 3 for SRA3 only. We duplex a lot of 350gsm matt and gloss stock with no problems using SRA3 and SRA4. Sure we do an XY adjustment on the side 2 but its pretty quick to do.
wonderings
Well-known member
We have a Versant 2100, had it over a year now. It is a fantastic machine. Colours stay consistent and registration is the best I have ever had with digital. Easy to use tools to calibrate stock for front to back alignment, and a nice stock library to keep all your settings for each stock you use. We have been very impressed and happy with our 2100.... it even prints envelopes!
gregbatch
Well-known member
I keep seeing the Ricoh 7100 series compared with the V2100, but the prices I have been getting put the V80 in line with the 7100, not the V2100. Would someone mind sharing their price info on the V2100? Also, the V80 did not do well on a couple of the textured stocks we use, but the 7100 did fine. Is there any expectation that the V2100 would do any better?
gregbatch
Well-known member
Thank you for that. Yes, it's a nice feature. The Xante gives us that ability as well (no surprise it's a Ricoh engine). I mostly look forward to the 5th station. I anticipate great things in the future for that station. We've seen new neon colors coming out and eventually gold and silver will make it to market. I'm hoping that digital manufacturers will be getting on board soon with Pantone XG. Ricoh 5th station is ready, they just need the toner.
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